Saturday, May 12, 2012

To the Playoffs and other meanderings

The day started with no milk, a sure sign that my son is home. So I did a quick ride to Walgreens to get some moo juice and a Mother's Day card. Walgreens, alas, was closed. So on to the US 1 Safeway. At most times of the day, riding on US 1 in Fairfax County VA is insane but at 7:20 on a Saturday morning all the SUVs are still tucked in their garages.

I made it to the Safeway unscathed and purchased my goods. The ride home was uneventful except for the garbage truck that tried to back over me. He missed.

I decided to ride to my daughter's high school lacrosse game at the Madeira School in Great Falls, but first I had to take her car to fill it up with dead dinos. On the way, about 1/3 of a mile from my house I came upon the final staging stop for the Police Unity Tour. This is an annual event that raises awareness and memorializes police officers killed in the line of duty. Fellow blogger and DC police officer on a bike KC is riding this year. I haven't met her and don't know what she looks like but I stopped and walked into the throng of police tour cyclists. It was hopeless. I was about to yell, "Hey, KC!" when they announced the start of the final leg. It was no time for chit chat; these folks have been riding for 3 days and wanted to get a move on.

I drove off to get the gas, delayed by the traffic delays that the throng of cyclist caused.

Once home, I grabbed some water and a couple of PopTarts and hit the road on the Sequoia bound for Great Falls. I took the Mount Vernon Trail - which was not jammed with people despite the beautiful weather - to the 4 Mile Run Trail. The 4 Mile Run Trail connects with the Washington and Old Dominion Trail near Shirlington. I took that all the way into Falls Church where I hung a right on the aptly named Great Falls Road. That turns into Lewinsburg Road. There was very little car traffic except at some construction pinch points. I was expecting a really hilly ride for some reason but I didn't mind the terrain at all. I hung a right on Spring Hill Road which was a little narrow in spots. I stopped for some French food at Sept Onze in McLean then headed on to Old Georgetown Pike. A left on OGP and up a hill with some thankfully patient drivers and after a quarter mile I was at my destination.

Last week the Frogs of Maret were blown off the field by Madeira but this week was different. The Frog coach made some tactical adjustments and the Frog goalie made save after save. The score was close all the way to the end. Both teams played well. Unfortunately dubious officiating cost the Frogs the ball twice with less than 6 minutes to play. (Alas, stuff happens. The refs did the best they could, but two refs can't possibly cover 100 yards and 22 players.) Both events gave Madeira the ball and they scored. Madeira won by 2. The many fans on hand gave their teams a long standing ovation for playing a brilliant game. I've seen dozens of girls lacrosse games in the last three years. Most of them are sleep inducing. This one was a blast to watch. You don't often walk away from a loss with a smile on your face but today I did.

And the smile continued on the ride home. It was mostly downhill all the way to the W&OD. Except for a Texan in a rusty diesel pick up truck and a Fairfax County police cruiser that both passed me with little room to spare, my ride back was uneventful. Until I reached Columbia Pike. At that point it was clear that my tank was empty. Or maybe the pollen and bugs and sun had worn me out. I slogged the last 10 miles home.

About 3 miles from home, I spotted two photographers at the Morningside bald eagle nest. One was the guy I talked to yesterday. He had modified his camera with an odd looking box that he said extended the range of his flash. He showed me some of his pictures on his camera screen. Very impressive, The other photographer who had a camera that looked pretty darned impressive by my humble standards was envious. Unfortunately for me, Mom and Pop eagle were out on the river and the eaglets were calm so I didn't see any raptor action today.

I arrived home with a hunger and a thirst and a headache. Tomorrow I get up super early for Bike DC. Then it's home for Mother's Day which will involve naps, I am sure.